charles schulz

Born:

Charles Monroe Schultz

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

November 26, 1922

Life/Career:

   He attended St. Pauls Richard Gordan Elementary School and skipped two half - grades, making him the youngest in his class at Central High School. After his mothers death in 1943, he was drafted into the US Army and was shipped to Europe to fight in WWII. After leaving the army in 1945 he returned to Minneapolis and took a job as an art teacher, and as a second job he worked for a Catholic comic magazine.

   Schulz's drawings were first published by Robert Ripley in his Ripley's Believe It Or Not! 

   His first regular cartoons Li'l Folks were published by the St Paul Pioneer Press from 1947-1950. The cartoon contained a character named Charlie Brown and a dog that looked much like Snoopy. After this Schultz tried to get Li'l Folks in many other newspapers, but Li'l Folks was dropped in 1950. 

   Schulz approached the United Feature Syndicate with his best Li'l Folks strips, leading to Peanuts first appearance on October 2, 1950. It quickly became one of the most popular comics of all time. Peanuts ran for nearly 50 years without interuption and appeared in more then 2,600 newspapers in 75 counties.

   In the time passing Schulz moved from Minneapolis to Seabastopo, California. There he built a studio, but it was later burnt down in 1966, the same year his father died. From there he and his family moved to Santa Rosa California, where he lived and worked for more than 30 years.

Death:

  Schulz died on Feburary 12, 2000 in Santa Rosa. He was 77 years old. The last original strip ran the day after his death. In it, a statement was included from Schulz that his family wished for the strip to end when he was no longer able to produce it.

Random Facts:

  Schulz was asked that if, for the final Peanuts strip Charlie Brown got to kick the football succesivley. Schulz replied with a definite NO.

  The Little Red Haired Girl was inspired by Donna Johnson, a fellow teacher from the school Schulz taught art at.

  Lucy was inspired by his first wife.

  Pepperment Patty was inspired by a cousin on his moms side.